Chess club rewarded for some good moves

The children of Barrington's Chess Without Borders club are learning much more than the best way to checkmate an opponent.

For their charitable work, students in the club were honored this week by the Jane Goodall Institute's Roots and Shoots program.

Goodall, best known for her study of chimpanzees in Africa over the past four decades, attended the recognition ceremony this week at the Chicago Botanical Gardens in Glencoe to congratulate the students personally.

"We wanted to reward them for all the work they have done," said Heather Greenwell, a regional program coordinator for the Roots and Shoots program.

Established several years ago by local grandmaster Yury Shulman, Chess Without Borders helps spread the game throughout the community.

Kiran Frey, one of the Barrington club organizers, said its members work constantly to introduce others to chess, visiting different schools to teach the game and handing out chess sets.

The group also raises money at the tournaments it hosts for both local and international charities. Recipients have included the American Red Cross, Barrington's Citizens for Conservation, Heifer International, the Food Resource Bank, area adult literacy programs and an orphanage in India.

Frey said she thinks the students enjoy the charitable work of the program just as much as the chess.

"I think the children are all very proud of themselves," she said.

And getting to share their work with Goodall was a huge thrill, Greenwell said.

"The youth really identify with her message of peace and her courageousness," Greenwell said.

Goodall began her work with chimpanzees in Tanzania in 1960. Her work would become the foundation of future primate research and redefine the relationship between humans and animals.

The Jane Goodall Institute started Roots and Shoots in 1991 as a way for young people to learn about problems and issues in their local communities and help solve them.

Roots and Shoots now has nearly 9,000 local clubs in nearly 100 countries.

For more information on Roots and Shoots, visit rootsandshoots.org. For more information on the Chess Without Borders program, visit shulmanchess.com.